Corona

So the CoronaVirus is almost everywhere. People are panicking, shopping in the supermarkets for food and toilet paper that should last them for years. I went to see it with my own eyes: half of the shelves on the supermarkets were empty, and really, there was no toilet paper left. And yet, the atmosphere is light and funny. So many jokes running around everywhere. I had a beautiful, restful Shabbat, and planned to do some work when it was over - but... when I opened my phone at the end of Shabbat there was such a bombardment of messages - news, spiritual religious messages, and jokes. It draws you in. So one hour or so was spent on this. And then our Prime Minister had a talk to the nation, declaring that not only schools and universities, but also kindergartens, cafe's and restaurants are going to be closed. All gatherings should be up to 10 people (a Minyan) and no more. People are encouraged not to leave the house, unless they really have to. Until when? Nobody knows. Am I the only one who is not stocking up food? I didn't buy anything...
It is so obvious that this pandemic harbors a resounding message from G-d. Perhaps even more than one. Our job is to try to understand the message to the best of our ability. To do so, we have to look at what is happening to us because of this tiny, invisible virus that attacks the world:

1. Our luxurious way of life is over for now - no more 10 flights a year, no more careless spending of money in restaurants, no more escapism with different kinds of entertainment.

2. Thanks to what's written in 1 above, the air gets cleaner: people are not flying as much, cars are driving much less than before - the air gets cleaned, and the hole in the ozone may be affected favorably, and if not - then at least it would stop growing. Our destruction of our planet is diminishing for now. Not that it would help in the long run, though - as soon as the virus is gone, people will resume their decadent way of life.

3. Thanks to 1 again, people have less venues for escapism, and they have to stay at home as much as possible - which means a chance to meet themselves sincerely and honestly for the first time, for most people. Yes, they will continue escaping through Netflix and the social medias, but perhaps when they have enough of it, they will have some periods of rest, and inevitably - also of reflection.

4. Many people suffer huge economic repercussions. They are either fired from their jobs, or work much less. Think of all the pilots who used to work a lot and make so much money. Now, supermarket workers are in much greater demand than them. It means that the idols of gold and silver are collapsing, at least temporarily, and people have to find something else to put their trust on. Who and what can they trust? I am SURE that most people in this situation raise their eyes up to G-d, searching and seeking Him for the first time in a long long time. This, I believe, is of course the main purpose of this pandemic. The purpose is to shake the world and cause it to turn to G-d. Will all of us do that? And for those of us who do it now - will this new reliance upon G-d be long lasting even after the pandemic is over? I believe that many will return to their idols of gold and silver as soon as this crisis is over, and it makes me sad. When I pray about the situation, I pray that people would repent and return to G-d, because - I believe - this is what He is aiming for with this pandemic.

5. When people are prevented from being next to each other, there is less gossip and less evil tongue. People are preoccupied with this new world crisis, and have less energy, time and opportunities to denigrate other people behind their backs or disclose their secrets. Perhaps this, too, is one purpose of this pandemic? In the Torah, the punishment for the evil tongue is staying away in confinement for 7 or 14 days, away from the community. So yes, of course the gossip can continue on the social networks or on the phone, but people are so preoccupied with the new situation, that the chances are much smaller that they would engage in evil tongue.

6. The name of the virus, Corona... In Italian, it means "crown", perhaps suggesting that the KING is behind it.


When I first grasped the dimensions of this pandemic, and heard our prime minister's speech on this topic, I felt like that's it, the end of the world is here. I had zero fear, just a sense that OK, so the end is near - what meaning and purpose does what I'm doing NOW have? Am I spending my precious seconds the right way? Am I doing what G-d expects me to do? It was such a sobering feeling, and I try to remember it, so as not to lose its effectiveness. What really matters is one's connection to G-d and the fulfillment of His will from us. Are we engaged in that or are we escaping to entertainment and wasting our lives away? Are we sorry for past mistakes we made, or do we not care about them? Are we thankful to G-d and acknowledge that He is behind EVERYTHING that happens to us, or do we attribute our successes to ourselves and our security to our physical possessions? Some food for thought to all of us.
In such moments, everything receives new proportions: the value of material possessions goes down (some of the jokes running around are from people offering to sell their cars in return for some toilet paper, etc.). What people think or say about us has less importance, and we keep asking ourselves - what is going on here. What does G-d try to tell us?

Last week, as I was doing my morning walk and listening to a class of Bible studies on my smartphone, an interesting verse caught my attention. It was a class from over a year ago, about Isaiah 26. Verses 20-21 say the following: "Go, my people, enter your rooms and shut the doors behind you; hide yourselves for a little while until his wrath has passed by. See, the LORD is coming out of his dwelling to punish the people of the earth for their sins. The earth will disclose the blood shed on it; the earth will conceal its slain no longer."
At that moment it felt like a precise message from G-d.

Let's hope humanity learns what it has to learn.

Today is my Hebrew birthday, the 17th of the month of Adar. When I was born it was a year in which we had two months of Adar, and I was born on the second Adar. But most years we have only one Adar, and this year we only have one, so in a way it's not a 'real' birthday to me.
We're living what seems to be like epocalyptic times. Like the world is going to end soon. Here, as usual, lots of jokes are said about our new situation and sent from one person to the next and in WhatsApp groups. It's funny. I pray that no one should die from it, and I'm trying to stay away from elderly people. I have a lot to say about it, but Shabbat is going to be here within an hour, and I'm not yet ready. I'll try to write again tomorrow, but no promises.

Shabbat Shalom!